When Failure Matters

The self-defense instructor taught us to escape first. But if you can’t escape, put your back up against the wall or find a corner to stand in. Attackers can’t surround you – vulnerabilities diminish by 50 and 75 percent, respectively.

Every leader has been up against the wall. What was it like?

Up against the wall is the place
where failure matters.

Benefits:

  1. “Proper” procedures fade.
  2. Fear creates resolve.
  3. Passivity turns to activity.
  4. Confusion turns to clarity.
  5. Confusion turns to clarity.
  6. Everything matters more.
  7. You forget about what others think of you.

Opportunities:

  1. Clarify your mission – realign.
  2. Forget what you used to do – reinvent.
  3. Escape remembered identity – reimagine.
  4. Assess the strengths of your current team – reexamine.
  5. Better utilize the strengths of your team – reassign.
  6. Tap into sustaining relationships both within and without – reconnect.
  7. Act decisively.
  8. Be willing to fail large, it’s freeing – release.

When you’re up against the wall, stop doing the things that got you there.

What has being up against the wall done for you?

What suggestions can you offer leaders who are up against the wall?